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Reflections

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Moving By Faith

Even though I’m a song-writer with an appreciation for poetry and symbolism, sometimes I just want people to shoot straight with me and tell me what to do. This is especially true when I read the Bible. I suspect that’s why the book of James is one of my favorites. James doesn’t break it to me gently or serve up his recipe for godly living with a teaspoon of sugar. He says things like, “If you want to please God, look after widows and orphans in their distress” and “God hates favoritism”. With such clear statements of God’s will, the reader is left without excuse—only a choice to obey or not. Not all matters in a Christian life are so crystalline, however. How should we discern what college to attend? Or whom to marry? Unless the potential college or spouse is named after a Biblical character, the answer is not going to be stumbled upon in Scripture. When we can’t see the answer, we have no choice but to walk by faith. Though walking by faith seems precarious, it’s the greatest adventure on earth, and Jesus has promised blessing to those who do: “Blessed are those who don’t see, and yet believe!” (John 20:29).

Several years ago, my husband Matt and found ourselves in need of similarly specific direction. We were living in a house that Matt owned before we were married, and, though we loved it, we wondered if we should sell it to pay off some student loans and rent for a while. We understood the Bible’s view of debt and stewardship and didn’t sense we were violating God’s will, so this decision fell squarely in that often-dreaded “grey” area. We did the only thing we knew to do: pray. Over a period of several months, we came together often to ask for God’s leading concerning our house. Though we didn’t see any writing on the wall, we were moved to become familiar with rental properties in the area. It occurred to us that identifying a suitable place to rent might ease our emotional attachment to our house. We found many nice apartments, but they all had one problem in common: there was no room for our baby grand piano.

Then, one day, we noticed a “for rent” sign on a duplex less than a mile from our home. We stopped and peeked in the windows for a closer look. The open floor plan was just what we needed; we could envision our piano right in the corner with room to spare. I turned to Matt and said, “This is where I would want to live if we sold our house.” Matt agreed. But even though it was helpful to know that there was a rental property that would suit our needs, we were in no position to sign a lease. Time passed; the “for rent” sign on the duplex disappeared, and we—having given up the idea of moving—wound up at Home Depot buying paint and wallpaper.

Then one day, there was a knock at our door. It was a realtor. She said, “I have a client who would like to buy your house.” Shocked, I said, “But our house isn’t for sale.” She said, “I know, but they are very interested and would like to make an offer.” I’d never heard of such a thing! “Do people really do that?” I thought. We took the Realtor’s card, chuckled to ourselves and then went back to enjoy our freshly painted living room.

Then Matt said, “Do you think this is God answering our prayers?” I laughed, “Honey, we just painted and wall-papered. God couldn’t be asking us to sell.” I was partly kidding. Later we agreed that we should at least take the next steps to see whether or not this is God at work. We called the Realtor and began discussions about a potential sale. Once a mutually acceptable price was agreed, we discussed terms and possession. Surprisingly, the buyers informed us they did not want to take possession of the house for nine months. They told us they did not want to break their lease. We contemplated this scenario and ultimately decided that we would not want to wait that long to sell.

A week later, unable to let it go, in yet another God-inspired moment, I suggested to Matt that we find out where the buyers are leasing and consider a sub-lease. I knew it was a long shot—we didn’t even know what part of town they lived in or whether there would be room for our piano, but I was optimistic. I ran to the nearest phone book, looked up their address, and set off to locate it. Could it be? Yes! We had driven right to the beloved duplex—the only suitable property we had found months earlier. We could hardly wait to get home to finalize the deal! A couple months later we packed up and joyfully swapped homes.

Yes, we walk by faith and not by sight. But sometimes the Lord turns our faith into sight and makes even the grey zone crystal clear.

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